The Lincolnshire Bird Club

I am interested in recording which butterflies visit my Bracebridge Heath LINCOLN garden this year and to see how the noted arrival dates of new species might differ from 2015 (dates in brackets below) with its total of 17 species.

Only 4 species were noted as visiting the garden this year in March and April :

1.Peacock - 25 Mar (12 Mar 15) - on Grape Hyacinth (later 2 spiralling over the lawn)
2a.Brimstone (male)- 25 Mar (7 Apr 15) - on Aubretia
3.Small Tortoiseshell - 30 Mar (10 Mar 15) - on Grape Hyacinth
4.Green-veined White - 10 Apr (11 Apr 15) (also 2 visits by Brimstone (male))
(2b.Brimstone (female) - 13 Apr (2 Apr 15) - 2 in the garden at rhe same time).

By 30 Apr 15 I had also noted :
Small White - 9 Apr
Holly Blue - 15 Apr
Large White - 25 Apr
Speckled Wood - 26 Apr.

UK's late, windy, cold spring this year, combined with 2015's miserable spring and summer weather, has certainly led to a big drop in the numbers of butterflies on a national scale - reflected by a paucity of reports in my BBH garden during most of March and April. The insect population in general will have suffered and, as for 2013, it could all lead to serious problems for insect-eating birds in the nesting season ahead including Spotted Flycatchers, Swallows, Swifts and Warblers.

Freddy

Update 31 May

March and April were disappointing weather-wise leading to low numbers of butterflies seen in the garden. The regular wind and lack of fine weather in May continued the registering of low numbers of butterflies seen. We've had just a few fine windless days but the frequent northerly winds led to the absence of butterflies even on sunny days with only Orange Tip,Holly Blue and the small Whites braving the low temperatures and putting in brief appearances.

On the few sunny days in May with no appreciable wind, the following species were added to the March/April list :

5.Holly Blue - 4 May (15 Apr 15).... then 2 up to the end of the month

6. Orange Tip male - 6 May (11 May 15) then regular

7. Large White - 6 May (25 Apr 15)

8. Small White - 14 May (9 Apr 15)

9. Red Admiral - 20 May (23 Jul 15).

The final days of May have been characterised by cold northerly winds with some drizzle and rain. Will June, July and August bring better weather? They didn't in 2015. The first few days of "flaming" June are forecast as 'cloudy with chilly northerly winds'. It looks as if the reported 'climate change' (as dictated by the Jet Stream, El Nino, etc.) just means for us butterfly addicts frequent spring and summer chilly winds and warmer rain............and very low numbers of butterflies.

Freddy

I cannot recall such a cold dank windy spring / early summer here on the coast since the 1981/2 spring summers
post Mount St Helens volcanic ash dispersal.

regards John

An enjoyable morning with John at Rimac yesterday and we saw 2 Common Blue butterflies. In the afternoon our Natural History Group moved on to Saltfleet Haven where we saw 3 Painted Lady butterflies warming themselves on bare earth. We also saw a Silver Y. The sun has been promised for this weekend so hopefully more butterflies in our gardens
Cheers
Colin & Joyce

Update -30 June :

The cold,wet weather of March, April and May not only continued into June but persisted throughout the month. Sunny days were a rarity and when they did occur in BBH, they were often accompanied by northerly winds - invariably grounding most butterflies.

There were a number of days in June when not a single butterfly was seen in the garden, including the final four days of the month.

The month began with occasional sightings of Orange Tip (male), Holly Blue and Whites. The only new butterfly to appear was :

10. Speckled Wood - 17 June (26 Apr 15) and subsequently, with two seen spiralling on the 25th.

The second half of the month also saw the occasional Holly Blue and Silver Y moth flying around. All in all, June 2016 was one of the most disappointing summer months for butterflies in recent years.

Freddy

At last, something of interest butterflywise in the garden today (Sunday) when the sun shone :

Meadow Brown, male, visited am and pm spending time on a patch of Bowles Mauve Erysimum (Wallflower).
An unidentified small White also flew through.

Freddy

Update : 1-16 July

Speckled Wood and Holly Blue continued from June into July. The first two weeks of July had some sunny days but also a significant number of cool, cloudy and damp ones.

Nine species have been recorded in the garden so far this month ( a number of them just 'singletons'), including 3 new ones :

11. Meadow Brown (male) - 3 Jul to date (28 Jun 15), especially favouring Lavender

12. Large Skipper - 4 Jul (4 Jul 15)

13. Ringlet 13 Jul (2 Jul 15); up to 2 to date.
plus :

Speckled Wood - up to 13th
Holly Blue - up to 2nd
Small White - 5th thereafter regular
Brimstone - male 7th
Large White - 13th, on Bowles Mauve Wallflower
Small Tortoiseshell - 13th : new emergence; on Bowles Mauve Wallflower.

Freddy

Update : 17-31 July

The second half of July enjoyed much better weather than the first half.

New species were :
14. Comma - 17 July (15 Jul 15) on Bowles Mauve Wallflower

15. Small Skipper - 20 Jul (16 Jul 15) on Lavender

16. Gatekeeper - 27 Jul (16 Jul 15) on Marjoram.

In addition, now that the Marjoram and Buddleia were in full bloom, there was usually a good number of butterflies visiting the garden when sunshine appeared, with up to 10 species on some days :

The 3 Whites
Ringlet - usually on non-stop circuits of the garden
Meadow Brown
Holly Blue - usually on hedge patrol
Speckled Wood - usually settled on Rose leaf or Sunflower leaf
Small Tortoiseshell
Red Admiral
Peacock.

Freddy

Update : 31 August

August has been the best month so far this year for 'reasonable' butterfly weather. Increased numbers of butterfly sightings in the garden have reflected this development.
New species were :
17. Painted Lady - 4 Aug (7 Jun 15) on Buddleia
18. Common Blue, male - 16 Aug (9 Aug 15) on Marjoram.

Six or seven species have been present in low numbers on most sunny days throughout the month :
Small Tortoiseshell - 2 or more
Red Admiral
Holly Blue -2
Speckled Wood -2
The 3 Whites.
Peacocks (up to 8 earlier in the month) were present up to c. 23 Aug. Painted Ladies (1 or 2 only) have been occasional visitors.
Following a new emergence, Small Tortoiseshells increased from just 1 or 2 to 5 during the last week of the month but they were certainly not as numerous as in some other reported Lincolnshire gardens : e.g. in Welton le Marsh (up to 41) and Theddlethorpe (18). - two locations where Painted Ladies were also well represented during the month.

Disappointed that no Small Copper has appeared in the garden so far this year although I am aware that it has become another 'rarity' these days.

Freddy

No Small Copper in my garden this year either Freddy.
19 species recorded in my garden including the Camberwell Beauty.

Hi Ed,
I can't imagine any Lincs garden hosting a more charismatic butterfly than a Camberwell Beauty. I haven't had one since a sighting in the Spanish Pyrenees in September 2001 (as noted on page 312 of Book Two of "The John Reddisson Saga".)
I see from my Diary entries over the years that the grand total of different species recorded in my inland BBH (Lincoln) garden since we moved to Lincs from Andalusia in 2002 is 24. That figure represents over 40% of the breeding species (c.57) of UK butterflies and, further to this year's sightings, includes :

Small Heath - 2003
Brown Argus - 2003 (and since)
Small Copper - 2005 ( and since)
Wall - 2005
White-letter Hairstreak - 2006
Essex Skipper 2006 (and almost annually since).

Freddy

Update : 30 September

No new species were recorded in the garden this month. Peacock had finished at the end of August but Painted Lady continued for a few days. Holly Blue lasted until mid-month which was when a male Brimstone appeared.

Small Tortoiseshell were well represented until the Buddleia blossom finished in the final week. Then, like the blossom, they disappeared.

Otherwise, Speckled Wood, Red Admiral, Comma and the Whites were present on/off until the last day or two of the month and they will hopefully continue into October.

Freddy

total of at least 9 Commas seen on 4 different clusters of ivy ST nnr 300916
also a scattering of Red Admirals and a fresh 3 rd brood Small Copper on ragwort..

regards John

14 October

I was pleased to find a Red Admiral sunning itself on the garden fence early afternoon today. When the sun disappeared so did the butterfly.

Freddy

.......and yesterday's Red Admiral returned for some more sunning on the fence this afternoon (Sunday).

Are there any other garden sightings of eg. Red Admiral, Comma, Small Tortoiseshell or Whites to report?

Freddy